Lucius Domitius Aurelianus—Aurelian to modern scholars—is one of the most famous men you’ve never heard of.  What I mean by that is he is remembered as an absolutely amazing Emperor within Roman history, but the average person has never, ever heard of him.  That’s a shame because as you’ll see, Aurelian deserves to be put up there with the more recognizable Augustus, Trajan and Hadrian.

Background

Aurelian is not as familiar to our modern ears because he ascended to the throne during what’s known as the Crisis of the Third Century.  This crisis of political, economic and social factors is a confusing mess of events for modern historians trying to piece together a coherent narrative and not much is actually known about it.  What is known, however, is that during this period, the Roman Empire split into three distinct areas ruled by different emperors and pseudo-emperors.

This period is not the high point of Roman culture, believe me.  The written word was rarer, there were severe manpower shortages throughout the empire as the plague made its rounds and emperors rose and fell with alarming frequency.  In the so-called Middle Empire of the time, the Emperor Gallienus ruled until he was assassinated by a military coup led by Claudius, who would later earn the title Gothicus for his campaigns against the Goths.  Unfortunately, Claudius Gothicus likely succumbed to the plague killing his men, leaving no clear successor and a bunch of ambitious, seasoned military officers behind.

In the western Gallic Empire consisting mainly of Britain and Gaul, a man named Postumus had been ruling wisely and justly.  He was beloved by his troops and the people he ruled over because the Western provinces had been neglected by the emperors in the central Empire.  And when Gallienus, the current central emperor tried to launch a military campaign to retake the provinces, Postumus repulsed him twice.  He was no dummy and managed to maintain his hold over the Gallic Empire for around nine good years.

In the East, a man named Odaenathus had been the de facto ruler for years.  His main strength was that he was keeping the Sassanids in Persia from retaking territory they had lost to Rome centuries ago.  Odaenathus was also no dummy and had a sphere of influence over most of the eastern provinces, including Syria, Egypt and Asia Minor.  He ruled from the trade city of Palmyra, which had grown influential as it was one of the last main stops along the silk road before traders entered Persia.  As such, it could charge taxes and create protection rackets that made the city obscenely wealthy.  When Rome’s influence was degrading in the East, Odaenathus seized his opportunity to extend Palmyra’s influence over the surrounding provinces and although he officially had the approval of Gallienus, Gallienus couldn’t have dislodged him if he tried.  Odaenathus was too smart and too powerful.

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